AAQI February Auction Begins!

The Azheimer's Art Quilt Initiative February Aucton
begins on February 1....and runs for ten days....through February 10, 2012.

Place a starting bid of just $40 and you might still end up winning one of our beautiful and unique quilts! It's that easy to do and that easy to win. Each $5 increment gives each new viewer to chance to snag the win away from the last bidder. $5 by $5.

And if you want, you can receive notifications that someone has placed a bid, or you can even sign up to make automatic bids up to a certain final amount. There are so many ways where you can make a small donation and end up being a winner!

Check out our groups lovely quilts among the lucky few at auction in February...tell your family and friends to bid on a quilt and give them as Valentine's Day gifts in memory of a loved one.

8660 Tulip Fields

Kristin Shields

Bend, OR USA

Width: 8.75" Length: 11.75"

Materials/Techniques: Cotton and linen fabric, cotton embroidery floss, some materials hand dyed, free piecing, needle-turn appliqu�, hand and machine stitching.

Artist Statement: This quilt started as a class sample. I decided to embellish it and make it for AAQI. Before too long it began to remind me of the tulip fields of the Pacific Northwest.
Kristin Shields

This quilt has a Hanging Ring

8715 - Girl in Oval Crazy Quilt

Debra Spincic
Montgomery, TX USA

Width: 8.5" Length: 11"

Designer: Original design

Materials/Techniques: Crazy quilt patchwork, machine embroidery, buttons and a charm.

Artist Statement: This small quilt was made from a crazy quilt block a friend gave me. I added some machine embroidery and embellishments to give it a Victorian Look.
Contact Debra

Dedication: To the innocence of youth.

This quilt has a Hanging Ring.

8738 - The Power of Transition

Michele Bilyeu
Salem, OR USA

Width: 11.75" Length: 9"

Designer: Original design

Materials/Techniques: Cotton fabrics, soy wax crayons, fabric paint and glitter, free motion stitching and beading on the back.

Artist Statement: Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "Power resides in the moment of transition from a past to a new state." We can see this in the changes of life, of time, and in the states of being from birth to death. Yet, even Alzheimer's disease cannot take away from the true power of the human spirit as it seeks to evolve by disintegration, into a reintegration we cannot always see, or understand.
Contact Michele

Dedication: For my beloved father who has already passed, with great love and great power, into his own transitioned state of being.

This quilt has a Hanging Ring

8745 - Jacobean Partridge I

Debra Spincic
Montgomery, TX USA

Width: 7.75" Length: 11.75"

Designer: Original design

Materials/Techniques: Satin damask with machine embroidery and quilting.

Artist Statement: This is one of three panels designed, embroidered and quilted on my embroidery machine. My intent was to highlight the beautiful Jacobean embroidered design as simply and elegantly as possible.

Contact Debra

This quilt has a Hanging Ring.

8995 - Be Yourself

Kristin Shields
Bend, OR USA

Width: 8" Length: 9.5"

Designer: Original design

Materials/Techniques: Needle turn appliqued, hand dyed cotton and linen, commercial quilting cotton, hand dyed and commercially dyed embroidery floss, free hand embroidery, shell beads, plastic button, hand quilting and the edges are enclosed with a facing. All the stitching is done by hand except the pieced background and the facing. In addition to the fabric label, this quilt has my embroidered initials on the back.

Artist Statement: This bird just popped out of my head and onto the fabric and before I knew it she had become a whole personality. The phrase, "be yourself", came to me while working on it and I ended up stitching the words right on the front. I really love this piece and see it as my true creative nature coming forth. This is my own original, one of a kind design.
Contact Kristin

This quilt has a Hanging Ring

Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative Auction Page

February 2012 Auction runs from February 1 -February 10 at 10:00 pm
The profits from all of the quilts AAQI goes to fund Alzheimer's research grants.
See all of the other quilts for sale at: AAQI Quilts for Sale

Michele Bilyeu Quilts With Heart and Hands for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Join in my Liberated Quilting Challenge...and buy or donate a quilt, today!! We are changing the world...one little quilt at a time.Michele Bilyeu Quilts With Heart and Hands for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Join in my Liberated Quilting Challenge...and buy or donate a quilt, today!! We are changing the world...one little quilt at a time.

"Alzheimer's can't wait and families won't forget"

With as many as 5.4 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s and nearly 15 million friends and family members providing care for them, the need to develop an "urgent, achievable and accountable strategy" was on the minds of Advisory Council members.

"Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death and the only one among the top ten without a way to cure, prevent or even slow its progression."

HHS recently outlined its timetable for the development of a National Alzheimer’s Plan, with the first draft targeted for mid-February and a final plan slated to be released in late spring. Advisory Council members shared their recommendations on what they believe must be included in an effective national strategic plan touching on areas from funding for research to clinical care to long term services and support.

The next in-person meeting of the Advisory Council meeting is scheduled for April 17, but you can read the current Draft Framework for the National Alzheimer’s Plan right now. And please share your feedback on the draft with us.

It's your turn!

Members of Congress have heard the voices of people from across the country, but now they need to hear from you in person. Join a nationwide group of advocates on April 23-25, 2012, in Washington, D.C., for the Alzheimer's Association® Advocacy Forum. Together we'll take our message directly to Congress and fight for a future without Alzheimer's disease. Visit alz.org/forum to register.

Sincerely,
Robert Egge
Vice President, Public Policy
Alzheimer's Association

Michele Bilyeu Quilts With Heart and Hands for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Join in my Liberated Quilting Challenge...and buy or donate a quilt, today!! We are changing the world...one little quilt at a time.

Alzheimer's Art Quilting News!

These fabulous quilts from our own AAQI Liberated Quilting Challenge are all for sale! Please check them out, enlarge their photos and see just how amazing each and every one truly is!

And then think about buying one for yourself, for a friend or loved one, and imagine the wonderful possibilities of buying one for yourself, and starting your own art quilting wall!

And remember...every purchase is truly a donation. All of the profits from the sale of that quilt goes to fund Alzheimer's research!

And a great big thank you! to all of the wonderful quilters and their beautiful quilts from our
Liberated Quilting Challenge!

	5421 - Butterfly Garden 2 $18.00 5421

	5457 - Grid search $28.00 5457

	5460 - Morning Glory $18.00 5460

	7529 � Wonky Log $28.00 7529

	6611 � 4 Corner Tulips $33.00 6611

7529 � Wonky Log $28.00 7529

	7817 � They Shine For You #1 $40.00 7817

	7819 � They Shine For You #3 $40.00 7819

	7966 - Clamshells $45.00 7966

	8073 � Thank You $45.00 8073

	8079 � Simply Tulips $40.00 8079

8116 � All Buttoned Up $45.00 8116 8120 � Yin Yang $50.00 8120	8116 � All Buttoned Up $45.00 8116 8406 � Little Quilt $45.00 8406

	8419 � Sweet Hearts $45.00 8419

8420 � Tipped Heart $40.00 8420	8501 � A Heart Filled With Hope and Love $85.00 8501

	8500 � Froggie Went A Courtin� $55.00 8500

	8547 � Mini Modern Amish Bars II $45.00 8547

	8548 � Mini Modern Amish Bars $45.00 8548

	8560 � My Mind Is Spinning $40.00 8560

	8566 � Mug Rug $30.00 8566

	8567 � Underwater Orchid $60.00 8567

	8569 � Fractured $45.00 8569

	8572 - Fiddleheads $55.00 8572

	8573 � Very Like a Whale $60.00 8573

	8672 - Rock On $55.00 8672

	8673 - Country Cowgirl at Heart $45.00 8673

	8674 - Come and Play $45.00 8674

	8679 - Pink Reeds $40.00 8679

	8680 - Line Dried Sheets $35.00 8680

	8699 - House of Love $40.00 8699

	8749 - Angel with Manger $90.00 8749

	8769 - Christmas Tree $70.00 8769

	8772 - Number 20 for AAQI $45.00 8772

	8774 - Hosanna! $60.00 8774

	8798 - Wild Hearts $50.00 8798

Michele Bilyeu Quilts With Heart and Hands for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Join in my Liberated Quilting Challenge...and buy or donate a quilt, today!! We are changing the world...one little quilt at a time.

AAQI: Heartbreak to Hope

"Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope" continues its five-year journey across the United States with a stop at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival XXII, February 23-26, 2012.

The exhibit will hang at the Hampton Roads Convention Center (Greater Chesapeake Bay / Williamsburg Area).

Show hours are 10 am to 6 pm Thursday - Saturday; 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday.

"Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope" is an exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer's sponsored by the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI). Fifty-four small format art quilts (9" x 12") illustrate the disease from a variety of perspectives. They hang among 182 "Name Quilts," each 6 inches wide and 7 feet tall, which carry the names of more than 10,000 individuals who have/had Alzheimer's or a related dementia. The names of loved ones, written on fabric patches by family members and friends, honor the 5.4 million Americans in the United States struggling with Alzheimer's disease.

Quilter, Teacher, Author, Blogger, Founder & Executive Director, Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative
AmiSimms. will be there!
Come meet Amie (you lucky people!) and see our fabulous quilts
n Facebook!

Michele Bilyeu Quilts With Heart and Hands for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Join in my Liberated Quilting Challenge...and buy or donate a quilt, today!! We are changing the world...one little quilt at a time.

AAQI Auction News and Our Own Latest Group Info!

Our Liberated Quilting Challenge for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative continues through 2012 and beyond! Anyone is invited to join our group...it's easier and so rewarding!

Members of the Liberated Quilting Challenge group share a common goal of exploring new ways of incorporating creative quilting into our own unique styles.

Quilts can be free-pieced, strip-pieced, fused, embroidered, or appliqued, or use any other expression or artistic elements as long as they are within the durability, handling, and storage requirements of AAQI.

We seek to provide an opportunity for members to learn from one another through our blogs, message boards and web links, and to think in a liberated and "outside of the box" artistic format.

Information and directions for making an AAQI quilt for our group can be found here, at Liberated Challenge Group Instructions on this continually updated Liberated Quilting Challenge Blog. This site will also showcase individual quilts, and quilters, and update members on the latest news provided by the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative including the latest news on research funding, exhibits, and traveling quilt shows.

It is no longer necessary to be a member of any other webring or message board, all you need to do is send me a quick email and let me know that you are making and registering quilts for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative and when you do have a new quilt registered with AAQI...you simply send me your name and your registered quilt's number. I do all the rest with featuring your quilts on the AAQI Liberated Quilting Challenge web page.

If you notice in the right hand side bar, I also give you many opportunities to check out other AAQI donation blogs...it's a wonderful way to connect with other creative and like minded quilters!

For additional information, or to join in with our online quilting group, please contact
Michele Bilyeu

And don't forget!!!!!! The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative January 2012 Online Auction started yesterday! It has the most amazing quilts for sale this month. Here's a tiny sampling photo, but click the link and check them all out. Amazing!!!

Online Quilt Auction Runs Through January 10th, 2012



Please bid generously.
Remember that ALL profits fund Alzheimer's research.

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Note on this year's badge:

This year's icon uses quilts from myself, Rene', Kathleen, Wendy, Debra, and Chele. These little quilts were chosen to specifically represent the wide variety of styles and techniques that all of us have experimented with this past year and to showcase the endless possibilities that exist for the infinite world of creating small art quilts for donation to a wonderful cause! Anything, and everything can work!!!

Michele Bilyeu Quilts With Heart and Hands for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Join in my Liberated Quilting Challenge...and buy or donate a quilt, today!! We are changing the world...one little quilt at a time.Michele Bilyeu Quilts With Heart and Hands for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Join in my Liberated Quilting Challenge...and buy or donate a quilt, today!! We are changing the world...one little quilt at a time.